Opportunistic crowd-based service platform

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing an opportunistic crowd based service platform is disclosed. A mobile sensor device is identified based on a current location and/or other qualities, such as intrinsic properties, previous sensor data, or demographic data of an associated user of the mobile sensor device. Data is collected from the mobile sensor device. The data collected from the mobile sensor device is aggregated with data collected from other sensor devices, and content generated based on the aggregated data is delivered to a user device.

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/403,682 filed Jan. 11, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/710,186 filed May 12, 2015 and issued Feb. 21,2017 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,578,095, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/211,865 filed Aug. 17, 2011 and issued Jun. 16,2015 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,058,565, the disclosures of which are hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to crowd based services andmore particularly to a method and system for providing an opportunisticcrowd based service platform.

Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performedby an employee or contractor, to an undefined large group of people or acommunity, referred to as a crowd. Typical crowdsourcing tasks utilizean open call, which invites members of the public to carry out the taskor portions of the task. In this form of distributed problem solving,various solutions are typically submitted by the crowd, and the crowdcan also review the various solutions to find the best solutions.Crowdsourcing is increasing in use in a variety of fields as arelatively inexpensive way to find creative solutions to problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In recent years, mobile devices have been provided with increasingcapabilities of capturing various types of information, such aspictures, video, audio, GPS data, etc. Embodiments of the presentdisclosure utilize mobile devices as a network of sensors toopportunistically collect information from multiple locations andprocess the information to provide a service to users. The presentdisclosure generally provides a method and system for providing anopportunistic crowd based service platform.

In one embodiment a mobile sensor device is selected based on itscurrent location. Data is collected from the mobile sensor device, andthe data may be aggregated with data collected from other sensordevices. Content can then be generated based on the aggregated data anddelivered to a user device.

These and other advantages of the disclosure will be apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an opportunistic crowd based service platformaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an opportunistic crowd based service platform inwhich a mobile sensor device is set as a dedicated access pointaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of delivering opportunistic crowd basedservice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example of opportunistic crowd based serviceprovided using an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second example of opportunistic crowd based serviceprovided using an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a high level block diagram of a computer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure generally provides a method and system forproviding an opportunistic crowd based service platform. Embodiments ofthe present disclosure utilize mobile devices as a network of sensors toopportunistically collect information from multiple locations. Theopportunistic crowd based service platform selects mobile devices tocapture data opportunistically, in that the devices are selected basedon their current locations in order to target desired data. Theopportunistic crowd based service platform aggregates and processes theinformation to generate content, and provides the content generated fromthe collected data to users.

FIG. 1 illustrates an opportunistic crowd based service platformaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 1, an opportunistic crowd based service platform 110 cancommunicate with various sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 over anetwork 122. The network 122 may be the Internet, a cellular network(e.g., a 3G or 4G network), or any other type of data network. Theopportunistic crowd based service platform 110 can also communicate witha user device 124 over the network 122.

The sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 can be any device capable ofdigitally capturing a real-world observation at a specific time andsending information to the network 122. The sensor devices 102, 104,106, and 108 send data reflecting measurements or observations to theopportunistic crowd based service platform 110 over the network 122. Thesensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 can be capable of capturing areal-world observation without any input from a user. It is alsopossible that the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 may be capableof receiving a real-world observation input from a user and transmittingdigital data representing the real-world observation to the network 122.According to an advantageous embodiment, one or more of the sensordevices 102, 104, 106, and 108 are mobile sensor devices. Mobile sensordevices are personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones,tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cameras with networkconnectivity, etc., that may be carried with a user and includefunctionality to capture real-world observations and connect to thenetwork 122. Data captured may include, but is not limited to, picturedata, video data, audio data, global positioning system (GPS) data,signal strength, light sensor data, temperature data, pollution data(e.g., data from an air quality sensor), calibration data that can beused to calibrate the sensors, and data requiring higher levels ofintelligence and interpretation that may require involving a user of thedevice. Another type of mobile sensor may be a drone that movesindependently of a user and is controlled remotely. In addition tomobile sensor devices, the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 mayalso include fixed location devices, such as fixed locations cameras,and distributed radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor devices.The sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 can also send additionalinformation, such as time and date information, and age, sex, anddemographic information associated with users of the sensor devices 102,104, 106, and 108. This information may also be retrieved from adatabase that stores information associated with users of mobile sensordevices.

Each of the sensors 102, 104, 106, and 108 themselves, can also be ahierarchy of one or more sensors like position devices (GPS,accelerometers, gyroscopes) and, audio/visual devices such as video andpicture cameras and microphones. Such sensors may be ‘smart’ in thesense that they have pre-processing capabilities as well as aggregationcapabilities. In one example, captured video data has an association ofthe position and the temporal evolution of the motion information of theperson capturing the data such that not only is the video dataavailable, but motion and position data of the sensor capturing thevideo is also available. This capability is particularly useful in theaggregation and reconstruction of “first-person” video data.

The opportunistic crowd based service platform 110 includes a collectionmodule 112, database 114, data provisioning module 116, data analysismodule 118, and service layer 120. The opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform 110 and the various components 112, 114, 116, 118, and 120 maybe implemented on a computer or distributed over multiple networkedcomputers.

The collection module 112 of the opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform 110 identifies the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 andcollects data from the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108. Inparticular, in order to collect targeted sensor data, the collectionmodule 112 can select one or more mobile sensor devices 102, 104, 106,and 108 that can provide the targeted sensor data based on currentlocations of the mobile sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 andtechnical capabilities of the mobile sensor devices. This allows themobile sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 to assume the role ofsensors in an opportunistic way. That is, based on their currentlocations, mobile devices that are typically carried with users tovarious locations and primarily used for other purposes (e.g., acellular telephone of a user) can be opportunistically utilized as asensor network covering a targeted area. This allows the opportunisticcrowd based service platform 110 to efficiently obtain data fromdifferent locations where fixed sensors may not be located without usingexpensive resources. For example, the opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform 110 could collect videos and/or images from various locationswhere breaking news is occurring by identifying and selecting mobiledevices at the locations and receiving the videos and/or images from themobile devices.

In one embodiment, the collection module 112 identifies one or moremobile sensor devices that are capable of capturing targeted sensor databased on the current locations of the mobile sensor device and thecapabilities of the mobile sensor devices. The capabilities of sensordevices registered with the opportunistic crowd based service platform110 may be stored in the database 114. The identification of the mobilesensor devices by the collection module 112 may be in response to adetermination that the targeted sensor data is necessary by the dataanalysis module 118. The collection module 112 may send requests to theidentified mobile sensor devices for the targeted sensor data. Forexample, the collection module can send a message to a targeted mobilesensor device using a messaging protocol (e.g., SMS or MMS), and themessage can include a link that can be selected by a user of the mobilesensor device to join opportunistic sensor network for a period of timeand send data to the opportunistic crowd based service platform 110. Atthis point, in one possible implementation, the user can control themobile sensor device to capture the requested data (e.g., take pictures,video, or manually enter an observation). In another possibleimplementation, the collection module 112 can communicate directly withthe mobile sensor device to retrieve the targeted sensor data (e.g.,temperature data, air quality data, light sensor data, signal strengthdata, etc.). In yet another possible implementation, upon joining theopportunistic sensor network, a mobile sensor device can be controlledremotely by the collection module 112 to capture the targeted data. Forexample, a remote user can control another user's mobile device for aperiod of time through the opportunistic crowd based service platform110 to control video capture at the location of the mobile device. Thecollection module 112 can also control software to run on mobile sensordevices and send updates and/or metadata to the mobile sensor devices.In order to encourage users to join an opportunistic sensor network, itis possible that participation could be incentivized by paying orsomehow rewarding users who opt in to the opportunistic sensor network.If no mobile sensor device is detected at a specific target location,the collection module 112 can identify a mobile sensor device that iscapable of capturing the targeted sensor data at a location near thetarget location and request that the mobile sensor device be moved tothe target location to capture the targeted sensor data.

In an advantageous implementation, the collection module 112 may selecta mobile sensor device and automatically control that mobile sensordevice to act an access point that allows other mobile sensor devices toconnect to the network 122. This is described in greater detail belowwith reference to FIG. 2.

In another embodiment, the collection module 112 can passively collectdata that is streamed or periodically sent from sensor devices 102, 104,106, and 108 that have registered with the opportunistic crowd basedservice platform 110. This data can be stored at the database 114 andselected for aggregation based on a location of the sensor device thatcaptured the data and the time at which the data was captured.

The collection module 112 collects data from fixed location sensordevices in a similar fashion as described above in connection withmobile sensor devices. In the case of fixed location sensor devices, thelocations of the devices may be stored in the database 114. It ispossible that fixed location sensor devices remain in an inactive orpowered down state until sensor data is needed from the fixed locationsensor devices. In this case, the collection module 112 can control thefixed location sensor devices to switch to an active state and collectthe data from the active fixed location sensor devices. The collectionmodule can also collect data and store it locally and only transfer thedata, or portion of the data, that meets certain criteria as specifiedby the data analysis module 118, to the data analysis module 118 whensuch a request is received.

The database 114 may be implemented as a single central database or asmultiple distributed databases. The database 114 stores the datacollected from the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 by thecollection module 112. The database may store identification informationfor sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 registered with theopportunistic crowd based service platform 110. The database 114 mayalso store information related to the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and108 and/or users of the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108. Forexample, the database may store a list of sensor capabilities for eachdevice, as well as user information (e.g., age, sex, demographicinformation, etc.) for the user of each device. The database 114 maystore locations of fixed sensor devices. In addition to the database 114in the opportunistic crowd based service platform 110, data may also becollected from other local databases via the network 122.

The data provisioning module 116 selects which of the data collectedfrom the sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 is used. The dataprovisioning module 116 may redact redundant or low-quality data. Thedata provisioning module 116 may check the quality of the data to ensurethat the best data is selected. For example, the data provisioningmodule 116 may utilize image or video processing algorithms to checkreceived images for noise, blurring, or other image/videocharacteristics. The data provisioning module 116 may also determinequality of the image or video with respect to a target or objective ofthe image or video. For example, the image quality can be determinedbased on the positioning of the mobile sensor device, whether the viewin the image or video is obstructed, etc. The data provisioning module116 can also compare the collected data to similar data from othersources to determine whether the data is credible and/or consistentamong multiple sensors and to determine which sensor captured the bestquality data. The data provisioning module 116 can drop data that isdetermined to be low quality or not credible. The data provisioningmodule 116 can also rate various sensor devices based on the qualitydata collected from the sensor devices. The ratings for various sensordevices can be stored in the database 114 and adjusted by the dataprovisioning module 116 whenever new data is collected from the sensordevices. The collection module 112 can then utilize the ratings of thesensor devices when selecting which sensor devices to use to collectdata. The data provisioning module 116 can also control how private orsensitive collected data is used by the opportunistic crowd basedservice platform 110. In one embodiment, encryption and digital rightsmanagement (DRM) like methods are applied to the data to furtherrestrict unauthorized use of the data.

The data analysis module 118 automatically aggregates the collected dataand analyzes the data to generate content based on the aggregated data.In particular, the data analysis module 118 combines the data collectedfrom multiple sources and synthesizes the data into a useful result thatcan be delivered to a user or customer. The result of aggregating andsynthesizing the collected data is referred to herein as “content”. Thedata can be processed to generate content that is specific for aparticular customer or may be processed to generate global content thatcan be delivered to users that subscribe to a service. The data analysismodule 118 can utilize various data processing applications in order toprocess the data and generate finished content from the collected data.For example, a photostitch application can be used to generate newimages (e.g., 3D images, or panoramic images) by combining imagescollected from various mobile sensor devices. Video splicing can be usedto combine videos received from various mobile sensor devices into asingle video stream that enhances the quality and/or extends theduration of the clip. Audio processing can be used to combine audio datafrom various devices in order to generate a stereo or super-stereo audiostream. Other multimedia processing may be used to combine various typesof data (e.g., image, video, audio) received from various mobile sensordevices.

Other types of applications may be used for time, frequency, or categoryanalysis of the collected data. A time analysis of the data may allowthe system to automatically accept or reject spurious data from the sametime/space location (like the disagreement of one temperature readingversus ten others collected in the same location). A frequency orcategory analysis looks for patterns like the temporal evolution of thedata and its frequency in relation to the type of data itself. Forexample, if the collection module 112 was attempting to capturepositional sensor data for a person driving a car, but the temporalevolution of that data indicated speeds of walking or air plane flight,the analysis module 118 could detect this deviation.

Various mathematical algorithms may be used to combine various types ofdata in order to generate high level content from the data.

When analyzing the collected data to generate the content, the dataanalysis module 118 may detect gaps in the data. For example, airquality measurements may be detected throughout a city. The air qualitymeasurements can be analyzed by the data analysis module 118 to generatea pollution report for the city. The data analysis module 118 candetermine that there are regions in the city for which the air qualityis not detected. In one possible implementation, the data analysismodule 118 can interpolate the missing data based on the collected data.In another possible implementation, the data analysis module 118 canalert the collection module 112 that air quality measurements are neededat specific locations. This creates a feedback loop in which thecollection module 112 identifies a sensor device capable of capturingthe missing data and collects the missing data from the identifiedsensor device. If no sensor device is located at the specific location,the collection module 112 can then request that a mobile sensor devicenear the specific location move to the specific location to capture themissing data.

The content generated by the data analysis module 118 can be in the formof reports, such as pie charts, clusters, tag clouds, statisticalreports, geographical maps colored by activity, etc. Such reports can becustomized based on a context of the end user receiving delivery of thereports. The content can also be in the form of multimedia content, suchas an audio stream, a video stream, or reconstructed or synthesizedimages, such a reconstructed 3D image or a “zoomed in view”. Content mayalso take simpler forms, such as streams of metadata (i.e., statisticalinformation with numerical values) that correspond to time-synchronizedevent data provided by aggregated sensor data.

The service layer 120 of the opportunistic crowd based service platform110 communicates with a user device 124 of an end user or customer overthe network 122. It can be noted that the user device 124, may be, butdoes not have to be, used as a mobile sensor device. The user device maybe a mobile device, or any other device capable of connecting to thenetwork 122, such as a computer, set top box, television, appliance,etc. The service layer allows a user to request specific content. Inresponse to a request for content received by the service layer 120, thedata analysis module 118 can determine what data is necessary togenerate that content, and alert the collection module 112 to collectthe targeted data. The service layer 120 delivers the content generatedby the data analysis module 118 to the user device 124. The servicelayer 120 can also deliver content that was not specifically requestedby the user to the user device. The service layer 120 can use varioustechniques for delivering the content. For example, the service layer120 can deliver the content using various messaging protocols, includingemail, SMS, MMS, etc. or other protocols such as HTTP. The service layer120 can also stream audio and/or video to the user device 124 over thenetwork 122. In addition to delivering the content to the user device120, the service layer can also deliver additional information relatedto the content to the user device 124 based on the context, such aslocation, activities, demographics, etc. associated with the user device124. The service layer 120 may also smartly select a subset of contentto be delivered based on bandwidth and/or power constraints. Forexample, instead of providing a video stream, the service layer 120 candeliver a sequence of sample images based on the content, such that onlynew content is sent. Further, the service layer may be used in aninteractive form such that the user device 124 is given content from theanalysis module 118 and then the collection module 112 requests asecondary sensor data collection from the user directly. Further,requests to the service layer 120 can be made directly from the userdevice 124 in an interactive fashion. The user device can be the driverand request information dynamically. For example, after receiving highquality data from a specific sensor device, the user device 124 mayrequest additional data from that sensor device directly or via thecollection module 112. Or the user device 124 may send instructions onlyto that sensor device (for example, to move to another location and tocollect a certain type of data).

FIG. 2 illustrates an opportunistic crowd based service platform inwhich a mobile sensor device is set as a dedicated access pointaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The opportunisticcrowd based service platform 210, collection module 212, database 214,data provisioning module 216, data analysis module 218, service layer220, sensor devices 202, 204, 206, and 208, network 222, and user device224 of FIG. 2 operate in a similar fashion to the opportunistic crowdbased service platform 110, collection module 112, database 114, dataprovisioning module 116, data analysis module 118, service layer 120,sensor devices 102, 104, 106, and 108, network 122, and user device 124of FIG. 1, except as described below. For the purposes of discussingFIG. 2, all of the sensor devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 are consideredto be mobile sensor devices, although the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. As illustrated in FIG. 2, mobile sensor devices 202,204, 206, 208 are identified by the collection module 212 of theopportunistic crowd based service platform 210, and the collectionmodule sends requests to the mobile sensor devices 202, 204, 206, and208. In response to mobile sensor device 202 opting in to theopportunistic sensor network (i.e., agreeing to capture data and sendthe data to the opportunistic crowd based service platform 210), thecollection module 212 automatically sets mobile sensor device 202 as adedicated access point for the opportunistic sensor network for a setperiod of time. Mobile sensor device 202 then serves as a dedicatedaccess point through which other mobile sensor devices connect to thenetwork 222. In response to mobile sensor devices 204, 206, 208 optingin to the opportunistic sensor network, mobile sensor devices 204, 206,and 208 are controlled to connect to the network 222 through mobilesensor device 202, which is serving as the dedicated access point. Theuse of mobile device 202 as a dedicated access point for theopportunistic sensor network allows the opportunistic crowd basedservice platform 210 to dedicate network resources to network trafficentering the network 222 through the dedicated access point, and thusprioritize data being collected through the opportunistic sensornetwork.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of delivering opportunistic crowd basedservice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, at 302, mobile sensor devices are selected basedon one or more properties of the mobile sensor devices, such as currentlocations of the mobile sensor devices, data that is currently (or lastavailable) from the sensors, intrinsic properties or qualities of thosesensors, or even demographic and user-based information that correspondto the sensors. In particular, mobile sensor devices at or near atargeted location that are capable of capturing a specific type of dataare identified.

At 304, data is collected from the selected mobile sensor devices. Inone embodiment, a request is sent to the selected mobile sensor devicesfor a specified type of data. For example, data, such as image data,video data, audio data, temperature data, light sensor data, air qualitydata, etc., can be requested from a mobile sensor device. The requestcan provide a mechanism (e.g., a link) that allows the user of themobile sensor device to agree to provide the requested data. In responseto the request, the data is captured by the mobile sensor devices andreceived by the opportunistic crowd based service platform. Accordingly,the mobile sensor devices for an opportunistic sensor network providesensor data covering various locations.

At 306, the collected data is provisioned. In particular, the data canbe provisioned to remove low quality data, redundant data, or data thatis determined to be not credible.

At 308, the collected data is aggregated and processed to generatecontent from the data. The data collected from multiple mobile sensordevices can be combined, and this data can also be combined with datacollected from fixed location sensor devices. The data can be processedusing various applications to generate meaningful and/or visuallyappealing content. For example, multiple images received from mobilesensor devices at different locations can be combined and processedusing a photostitch algorithm to generate a reconstructed 3D image or apanoramic image. Multiple types of data may be combined in a compositepresentation. For example, images from a single or multiple cameras andthe temperature data in an interpolated form can be used to generate animage that displays the temperature at each location by positioning apointing device (e.g., a mouse) on a point in the image. Various typesof data can be processed to organize the data and present the data inreports. Further, other data not collected from the multiple mobilesensors can be combined with the data collected from the multiple mobilesensors.

At 310, the content is delivered to a user device. The content may bedelivered to the user device in response to a query or request. Forexample, the content may be generated and delivered in response to arequest for specific content, such as a user requesting a map ofpollution versus location for a specific city. The content may also begenerated and delivered in response to a more general query or question.For example, a user may send a general query to the opportunistic crowdbased service platform, which then determines which sensor data isnecessary to answer the question and determines what type of contentshould be used to best present a response to the query. The user mayalso subscribe to a service and passively receive content generated forthe service. For example, a sports fan may subscribe to a service thatprovides video instant replays at various angles of a live sportingevent. In this case, videos taken using mobile sensor devices atdifferent locations at the event can be combined to show instant replaysat different angles, which can be streamed to a user device.

At 312, additional data can be received from the user device. Inparticular, sensors of the user device can be requested by thecollection module 212 to record an additional set of data based on theuser's interaction with the delivered content 310. While this step isnot required in all embodiments, one embodiment of this disclosure couldutilize this additional sensor data to create an interactive service.For instance, in the example described above in which users receivevideo instant replays of a sporting event, users of different mobiledevices can rate the instant replays and the analysis module 118 andservice layer 120 can adjust the delivered content according to userpreferences.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example of opportunistic crowd based serviceprovided using an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the exampleof FIG. 4, the opportunistic crowd based service platform (not shown) isused to inform a user which coffee shop in a certain radius of theuser's present location is currently least crowded. As illustrated inFIG. 4, coffee shops A (404), B (406), C (408), and D (410) are within acertain radius of user 402. Mobile sensor devices 412, 414, 416, 418,420, and 422 are registered with the opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform. In response to a query from the mobile device 403 of user 402,the opportunistic crowd based service platform identifies mobile sensordevices 412, 416, 418, and 422 as being at coffee shops A (404), B(406), C (408), and D (410), respectively. A request can be sent to eachof mobile sensor devices 412, 416, 418, and 422 for the user of eachdevice to enter the approximate number of people at the respectivecoffee shop. Alternatively, instead of the user of each device 412, 416,418, and 422 entering a number of people, a microphone in each device412, 416, 418, and 422 can be activated for a short time period in orderto detect a decibel level of ambient noise in each coffee shop A (404),B (406), C (408), and D (410). The opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform can then estimate the relative size of the crowd at each coffeeshop A (404), B (406), C (408), and D (410) based on the ambient noiselevels. Based on the data collected from the mobile sensor devices 412,416, 418, and 422, the opportunistic crowd based service platformgenerates a report that answers the query as to which coffee shop isleast crowded and visualizes the relative number of people in each ofthe coffee shops A (404), B (406), C (408), and D (410), and deliversthe report to the mobile device 403 of user 402.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second example of opportunistic crowd based serviceprovided using an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the exampleof FIG. 5, the opportunistic crowd based service platform 512 identifiesmobile sensor devices 502, 504, 506, 508, and 510 capable of capturingpictures and/or video at strategic locations in a football stadium. Forexample, the mobile sensor devices 502, 504, 506, 508, and 510 may besmart phones with camera and/or video camera functionality that belongto fans seated at various locations in the stands. The opportunisticcrowd based service platform 512 receives images and/or video of thefootball game captured by the mobile sensor devices 502, 504, 506, 508,and 510 over a network 514. The opportunistic crowd based serviceplatform 512 can combine the images and/or video received from themobile sensor devices 502, 504, 506, 508, and 510 to generate content.The images and/or video received from the mobile sensor devices 502,504, 506, 508, and 510 may also be combined with images and videocaptured using fixed cameras (not shown) throughout the stadium. Theopportunistic crowd based service platform 512 can generate content suchas reconstructed 3D images or “zoomed in” images from different vantagepoints. The opportunistic crowd based service platform 512 can alsogenerate content such as video highlights that combine the videos fromdifferent viewing angles. This content can be delivered to a user device520, such as a television, set top box, appliance, or computer in thehome of a user. For example, images and/or video generated by theopportunistic crowd based service platform 512 using the images and/orvideo collected from the mobile sensors mobile sensor devices 502, 504,506, 508, and 510 may be streamed to the user device 520. The userdevice 520 may passively receive and display the content, or mayactively request various views or images, which can then be generatedand delivered by the opportunistic crowd based service platform 512.

The above described opportunistic crowd based service platform and theabove-described methods for delivering opportunistic crowd based servicemay be implemented on a computer using well-known computer processors,memory units, storage devices, computer software, and other components.A high level block diagram of such a computer is illustrated in FIG. 6.Computer 602 contains a processor 604 which controls the overalloperation of the computer 602 by executing computer program instructionswhich define such operation. The computer program instructions may bestored in a storage device 612, or other computer readable medium,(e.g., magnetic disk) and loaded into memory 610 when execution of thecomputer program instructions is desired. Thus, the operations describedabove, including the method steps illustrated in FIG. 3 and theoperations of the various components of the opportunistic crowd basedservice platform, may be defined by the computer program instructionsstored in the memory 610 and/or storage 612 and controlled by theprocessor 604 executing the computer program instructions. The computer602 also includes one or more network interfaces 606 for communicatingwith other devices via a network. The computer 602 also includes otherinput/output devices 608 that enable user interaction with the computer602 (e.g., display, keyboard, mouse, speakers, buttons, etc.) Oneskilled in the art will recognize that an implementation of an actualcomputer could contain other components as well, and that FIG. 6 is ahigh level representation of some of the components of such a computerfor illustrative purposes.

The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in everyrespect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scopeof the general inventive concept disclosed herein is not to bedetermined from the Detailed Description, but rather from the claims asinterpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws.It is to be understood that the embodiments shown and described hereinare only illustrative of the principles of the present general inventiveconcept and that various modifications may be implemented by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of thegeneral inventive concept. Those skilled in the art could implementvarious other feature combinations without departing from the scope andspirit of the general inventive concept.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising selecting, by aservice platform including a processor, a first mobile sensor device forproviding first data based on a current location of the first mobilesensor device by identifying at least one mobile sensor device locatedat a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of thefirst data and selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor devicelocated at the target location that is capable of capturing the specifictype of the first data as the first mobile sensor device for providingthe first data; selecting, by the service platform, a second mobilesensor device to act as a dedicated wireless access point based on acurrent location of the second mobile sensor device and capabilities ofthe second mobile sensor device; controlling, by the service platform,the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless accesspoint that allows the first mobile sensor device to connect to anetwork, wherein the first mobile sensor device and the second mobilesensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated withdifferent respective users; obtaining, by the service platform, thefirst data from the first mobile sensor device via the network;aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from thefirst mobile sensor device with second data collected from one or moreother mobile sensor devices to generate aggregated data; and delivering,by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on theaggregated data, wherein the first data collected from the first mobilesensor device comprises first image data, the second data collected fromthe one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises second image data,and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the firstmobile sensor device with the second data collected from the one or moreother mobile sensor devices comprises: generating a reconstructed imageusing the first and second image data collected from the first mobilesensor device and the one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the first data from the firstmobile sensor device comprises: sending a request to the first mobilesensor device to capture the first data; and receiving the first datafrom the first mobile sensor device via the network in response to therequest.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the firstmobile sensor device for providing the first data further comprises:selecting the first mobile sensor device based on one of an intrinsicproperty of the first mobile sensor device, a previous reading receivedfrom the first mobile sensor device, or demographic information of auser of the first mobile sensor device.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: removing data determined to be low quality from thefirst data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the seconddata collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: detecting gaps in the aggregateddata; determining a second target location to capture third data basedon the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and identifying a thirdmobile sensor device currently located at the second target location. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting gaps in theaggregated data; determining a second target location to capture thirddata based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; identifying athird mobile sensor device not currently located at the second targetlocation that is capable of capturing the third data; and requestingthat the third mobile sensor device not currently located at the secondtarget location be moved to the second target location.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: controlling, by the service platform, thesecond mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless accesspoint that allows the one or more other mobile sensor devices to connectto the network.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: dedicatingnetwork resources to network traffic entering the network through thededicated wireless access point to prioritize the first data collectedfrom the first mobile sensor device and the second data collected fromthe one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 9. An opportunistic crowdbased service platform apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memoryto store computer program instructions, the computer programinstructions when executed on the processor cause the processor toperform operations comprising: selecting a first mobile sensor devicefor providing first data based on a current location of the first mobilesensor device by identifying at least one mobile sensor device locatedat a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of thefirst data and selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor devicelocated at the target location that is capable of capturing the specifictype of the first data as the first mobile sensor device for providingthe first data; selecting a second mobile sensor device to act as adedicated wireless access point based on a current location of thesecond mobile sensor device and capabilities of the second mobile sensordevice; controlling, by the service platform, the second mobile sensordevice to act as the dedicated wireless access point that allows thefirst mobile sensor device to connect to a network, wherein the firstmobile sensor device and the second mobile sensor device are independentmobile sensor devices associated with different respective users;obtaining, by the service platform, the first data from the first mobilesensor device via the network; aggregating, by the service platform, thefirst data collected from the first mobile sensor device with seconddata collected from one or more other mobile sensor devices to generateaggregated data; and delivering, by the service platform, content to arecipient device based on the aggregated data, wherein the first datacollected from the first mobile sensor device comprises first imagedata, the second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensordevices comprises second image data, and wherein the aggregating thefirst data collected from the first mobile sensor device with the seconddata collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devicescomprises: generating a reconstructed image using the first and secondimage data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the one ormore other mobile sensor devices.
 10. The opportunistic crowd basedservice platform apparatus of claim 9, wherein the operations furthercomprise: removing data determined to be low quality from the first datacollected from the first mobile sensor device and the second datacollected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 11. Theopportunistic crowd based service platform apparatus of claim 9, whereinthe operations further comprise: detecting gaps in the aggregated data;determining a second target location to capture third data based on thegaps detected in the aggregated data; and identifying a third mobilesensor device for capturing the third data based on a current locationof the third mobile sensor device relative to the second targetlocation.
 12. The opportunistic crowd based service platform apparatusof claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: controlling thesecond mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless accesspoint that allows the one or more other mobile sensor devices to connectto the network.
 13. The opportunistic crowd based service platformapparatus of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:dedicating network resources to network traffic entering the networkthrough the dedicated wireless access point to prioritize the first datacollected from the first mobile sensor device and the second datacollected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 14. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executableinstructions for controlling a service platform to deliver opportunisticcrowd based service, the computer program instructions when executed ona processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:selecting, by the service platform, a first mobile sensor device forproviding first data based on a current location of the first mobilesensor device by identifying at least one mobile sensor device locatedat a target location that is capable of capturing a specific type of thefirst data and selecting one of the at least one mobile sensor devicelocated at the target location that is capable of capturing the specifictype of the first data as the first mobile sensor device for providingthe first data; selecting, by the service platform, a second mobilesensor device to act as a dedicated wireless access point based on acurrent location of the second mobile sensor device and capabilities ofthe second mobile sensor device; controlling, by the service platform,the second mobile sensor device to act as the dedicated wireless accesspoint that allows the first mobile sensor device to connect to anetwork, wherein the first mobile sensor device and the second mobilesensor device are independent mobile sensor devices associated withdifferent respective users; obtaining, by the service platform, thefirst data from the first mobile sensor device via the network;aggregating, by the service platform, the first data collected from thefirst mobile sensor device with second data collected from one or moreother mobile sensor devices to generate aggregated data; and delivering,by the service platform, content to a recipient device based on theaggregated data, wherein the first data collected from the first mobilesensor device comprises first image data, the second data collected fromthe one or more other mobile sensor devices comprises second image data,and wherein the aggregating the first data collected from the firstmobile sensor device with the second data collected from the one or moreother mobile sensor devices comprises: generating a reconstructed imageusing the first and second image data collected from the first mobilesensor device and the one or more other mobile sensor devices.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein theoperations further comprise: removing data determined to be low qualityfrom the first data collected from the first mobile sensor device andthe second data collected from the one or more other mobile sensordevices.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14,wherein the operations further comprise: detecting gaps in theaggregated data; determining a second target location to capture thirddata based on the gaps detected in the aggregated data; and identifyinga third mobile sensor device for capturing the third data based on acurrent location of the third mobile sensor device relative to thesecond target location.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise: controlling, bythe service platform, the second mobile sensor device to act as thededicated wireless access point that allows the one or more other mobilesensor devices to connect to the network.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations furthercomprise: dedicating network resources to network traffic entering thenetwork through the dedicated wireless access point to prioritize thefirst data collected from the first mobile sensor device and the seconddata collected from the one or more other mobile sensor devices.